Auto Racing
NASCAR panel upholds RCR penalties for fighting
CONCORD, N.C. – A NASCAR appeals panel Friday upheld the penalties for two Richard Childress Racing Nationwide crew members who also are facing criminal charges for fighting with driver Nelson Piquet Jr. at Richmond International Raceway last month.
Thomas Costello and Michael Scearce of driver Brian Scott’s team both were suspended for four Nationwide Series races and fined $15,000 each.
Team Andretti again strong on Carb Day at Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud used a fresh new Honda engine to pace the final practice session before the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
Pagenaud jumped to the top of the leaderboard right before the checkered flag Friday. E.J. Viso and defending IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay were second and third as Andretti Autosport continued the monthlong trend of being among the fastest cars on the track.
Scott Dixon was fourth, followed by Sebastien Bourdais, defending race winner Dario Franchitti and James Jakes. Katherine Legge was eighth. Marco Andretti and Alex Tagliani rounded out the top 10, which featured six Hondas.
Cycling
Stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia canceled because of snow
PONTE DI LEGNO, Italy – The 19th stage of the Giro d’Italia was canceled Friday because of snow along the route, and today’s penultimate stage was altered for the same reasons, leaving Vincenzo Nibali with a much milder finish to defend his lead.
Nibali, an Italian who rides with Astana, holds a 4-minute, 2-second lead over 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans of Australia, who rides for BMC. Rigoberto Uran of Colombia is third overall, 4:12 behind.
A former Giro champion tests positive for EPO
ROME – Cycling’s first major race since the end of the Lance Armstrong case was rattled by another high-profile positive doping test Friday.
Former Giro d’Italia winner Danilo Di Luca tested positive for erythropoietin in a surprise check at his home before this year’s race, organizers said.
If confirmed in a backup “B” sample, Di Luca risks a lifetime ban since this is his third offense.
It’s the second doping case from this year’s Giro after French rider Sylvain Georges tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol in a urine sample after the seventh stage. The 28-year-old AG2R La Mondiale rider immediately was withdrawn from the race.
The race will end Sunday, and Di Luca departs in 26th place overall, 33 minutes, 33 seconds off the leader’s pace.
Tennis
For the first time since ’82, three U.S. men reach Paris
PARIS – Three United States men have qualified for the French Open for the first time in more than 30 years.
Jack Sock of Lincoln, Neb., Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., and Steve Johnson of Orange, Calif., all won their qualifying matches Friday to earn berths in the main draw at Roland Garros.
A trio of American men hadn’t done that together in Paris since 1982, when Charles Strode, Craig Wittus and Derek Tarr qualified. That year, all three lost in the first round of the main tournament.
Sock’s first opponent will be Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, Kudla will play Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic, and Johnson will play Albert Montanes of Spain.
Sock and Kudla both are 20; Johnson is 23. None has played in the French Open before.
They’ll be joined in the main draw by Rhyne Williams, a 22-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., who lost in qualifying but got into the tournament as a “lucky loser” – a player who sneaks into the field via someone’s withdrawal.
In the first round, Williams will face Michal Przysiezny of Poland, who beat Williams in qualifying.
Associated Press
